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Norman Stiles
at the 2001 TCA Awards.]] "]] Norman Stiles (b. December 4, 1942) is a writer who worked on Sesame Street and its related productions for over twenty years. His concepts include the Muppet characters Harvey Kneeslapper, Count von Count, and Forgetful Jones. __TOC__ Stiles initially studied zoology and chemistry at Hunter College, and became a social worker for the New York City Welfare Department. During that period, he began writing comedy material for such performers as Ron Carey (later a regular on Barney Miller) and Marty Brill, and wrote for Merv Griffin.Season 4 Press Kit. 1971 Stiles joined the Sesame Street writing staff in 1971, hired by head writer Jeff Moss as the show was about to enter its third season. He competed for the job with then intern Lois FortuneWe’re All Norman’s Kids: The Norman Stiles Interview. Stiles became head writer of Sesame Street in season 6, but left after that season to pursue a career in Hollywood. Stiles returned to Sesame Street in season 11, resuming his role as head writer until season 28. In later years, his work would often touch upon sensitive topics, such as the death of Mr. Hooper in Episode 1839, or the effects of divorce on children in the unaired "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce." In 1990, as part of the Season 22 curriculum mandate to examine race relations, Stiles wrote an episode in which a blue monster named Greta refuses to let Elmo play wubbaball because of his different fur color, only to find herself excluded.Johnson, Peter. "Taking Race Relations to the Street." USA Today. November 12, 1990 Stiles has also written for appearances by the Muppets, such as an Ad Council nutrition spot with Cookie Monster, and authored a variety of Sesame Street books (including The Perils of Penelope), wrote lyrics for such songs as "Put Down the Duckie," and helped script Jim Henson's pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. Stiles discussed his philosophy of writing in 1988: Outside of the Muppets and Sesame Street, Stiles has written for America 2-Night (starring Martin Mull and Fred Willard) and Mel Brooks' 1975 sitcom spoof of Robin Hood When Things Were Rotten. In 1996, Stiles co-founded Sirius Thinking Ltd, an independent children's television production company, with fellow Sesame alumni Michael K. Frith and Christopher Cerf. At Sirius Thinking, Stiles wrote and produced the PBS children's show Between the Lions which premiered in 2000. The show has won six Daytime Emmy Awards, including a 2004 Emmy for best writing. In April 2014, Stiles launched a crowdfunding campaign for an online video series Baby & Toddler Parenthood News Network with his wife Ellen Dillon and child development expert Amy Hatkoff. Television credits *''Sesame Street'' (seasons 3-6, 11-28) - head writer seasons 6, 11-28 *''Out to Lunch'' *''The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence'' *''The Jean Marsh Cartoon Special'' *''The Sesame Street Special'' *''Free to Be... a Family'' Episodes Sesame Street episodes written by Stiles include:episode scripts Segments Sesame Street segments written by Stiles include: * A Fish in a Cowboy Hat * Ernie's chocolate pudding list * Billy Crystal as Ricky * Ed Grimley (Martin Short) and Henry (Billy Crystal) * Bobby McFerrin's version of "The Alphabet Song" * Jay Leno rides * Elmo scares Julia Roberts * Blair Underwood swings Elmo * The Count jumps over the table * Danny Glover reads a story * Hillary Clinton discusses healthy eating * Elmo and Rosie O'Donnell rap the alphabet * Ernie practices saying hola * Marisa Tomei and Big Bird * Big Bird knocks over block * Susan Sarandon and Cookie Monster * Big Bird gives Telly Monster a balloon * Big Bird's foot poem * Big Bird's door poem * Ernie's drum experiment * Big Bird's tennis balls * Awadagin Pratt plays the piano * Ernie counts backwards * Big Bird and Baby Bear visit the Museum of Modern Art * Big Bird's Video Postcards: Phoenix, Arizona Book credits *''The Sesame Street Storybook'' *''The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick'' *''The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook'' *''The Perils of Penelope'' *''The Sesame Street ABC Storybook'' *''Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum'' *''Grover's Little Red Riding Hood'' *''The Ernie & Bert Book'' *''The Count's Number Parade'' *''The Sesame Street Library'' volumes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12 *''The Sesame Street Treasury'' volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 *''I'll Miss You, Mr. Hooper'' *''Around the Corner on Sesame Street'' Song writing credits File:Aboveitall.jpg|Above it All File:YoshShmenge.jpg|Alphabet Polka File:AlphabetTimeSong.jpg|Alphabet Time (The Surgeon's Song) File:BigWolfFamily.jpg|Bad Wolf File:1706b.jpg|Big Bird's Going to Camp File:2365h.jpg|The Birdketeer Song File:Song.birdlandjump.jpg|The Birdland Jump File:CloudNine.jpg|Cloud Nine File:CountKidPlay.jpeg|Counting Rap File:Song.countingrobins.jpg|Counting Robins 3430c.jpg|Crying Game File:2096w.jpg|Dance Myself to Sleep File:LittleJerryDanger.jpg|Danger File:Kermit.dodeduck.jpg|Do De Rubber Duck File:2482a.jpg|Don't Sing This Song File:DontTouchMe.jpg|Don't Touch Me File:Doo_Wop_Hop.jpg|Do-Op Hop File:Elephantelevator.jpg|The Elephant Elevator Operator File:Song.fivejive.jpg|Elmo's Jive Five File:Song-exit.jpg|Exit File:2544g.jpg|Gonna Be a Dad/Mom File:Googlebugle.jpg|Google Bugle File:GrouchesSF.jpg|Grouches in the South of France File:HandfulOCrumbs.jpg|Handful of Crumbs File:ErnieJoseCarreras.jpg|He Lost His Duckie File:HeyFood.jpg|Hey Food File:HonkerDuckieDingerJamboree.jpg|The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree File:Song.IAmChicken.jpg|I Am Chicken File:Vlcsnap-2018-03-02-16h33m01s508.png|I See a Garden File:Song.sadhappy.jpg|I'm Sad Because I'm Happy File:2404j.jpg|The Like Changed Into Love File:BBGrouch-2.jpg|The Loudest Lullaby (You've Ever Heard) File:3763f.jpg|Love in the Junkyard File:Megottabeblue.jpg|Me Gotta Be Blue File:Monsterinthemirror.jpg|Monster in the Mirror File:noimage-landscape.png|Oops! (song) File:PutDowntheDuckie.jpg|Put Down the Duckie File:2616streetstory5.jpg|Seventeen Ice Cream Cones SmallPeople.jpg|Small People 3457birdland2.jpg|Sometimes I Sing File:Mushymuddy.jpg|Swamp Mushy Muddy File:Littlejerryandthemonotones.jpg|Telephone Rock File:2874d.jpg|This Song Is for the Birds File:2616streetstory2.jpg|Trouble File:001.JPG|Up and Down Opera File:EB.WakeUp.jpg|Wake Up! File:WashYourHands01.jpg|Wash Your Hands 3831oinkerBsong.jpg|Where Can You Be, B? File:GrannyVisits.jpg|With You File:BBWaylon1.jpg|Wrong File:BeABirdketeer.jpg|You Can Be a Birdketeer 3230c.jpg|You Can Learn to Sing a Song File:1815h.jpg|You Got a Nose File:Little_chrissy_you%27re_alive.jpg|You're Alive Home video *''Learning About Numbers'' *''I'm Glad I'm Me'' *''Play-Along Games and Songs'' Miscellaneous writing credits *''¡Sesame Mucho!, album *Dinah! I've Got a Song, album *Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra, album *Getting Ready for School, album *Sesame Country, album *Silly Dancing, ''Sesame Street Live stage show *''Sleeping Birdie, stage show External links * Sirius Thinking page on Stiles (archived) * Old Jews Telling Jokes * ToughPigs.com interview: "We're All Norman's Kids" * Graphic Policy interview: Muppets Gone Missing: Norman Stiles * ''The Atlantic interview: "The Songsmiths of Sesame Street" by Julie Beck, March 29, 2019 Sources __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Writers Category:Authors Category:Lyricists